Dr Renxi Qiu

Associate Professor in Computer Science

Dr Renxi Qiu

Dr Renxi Qiu is an Associate Professor at the University of Bedfordshire, U.K. His research focuses on cloud robotics and connected intelligence. He is the scientific coordinator of the EU project “5G Enhanced Robot Autonomy” (5G-ERA) and previously held the same role for the EU project “Multi-Role Shadow Robotic System for Independent Living” (SRS). He led the ICRA24 tutorial session on “Connected Robotics Platform for ROS Deployment in Real-world Network Settings.” ICRA is the top event in robotics, attended by over 7,000 delegates. He also led the EuCNC & 6G Summit special session on “6G enabled Network Applications for the Future of Connected Robotics.”

Software Engineering & Object-Oriented Programming
Robotics & Cybernetics
Cloud Computing & Distributed Systems

School of Computer Science and Technology, University of Bedfordshire, Luton UK (2013-now)

Associate Professor in Computer Science & Robotics
Lead for Centre of Cloud Robotics and Connected Intelligence
Course Coordinator for MSc Software Engineering and Applications
Course Coordinator for BSc Software Engineering

Manufacture Engineering Centre, Cardiff University, Cardiff UK (2004-2013)

Research Fellow and EU Project Manager

[2023-2027] - LIL-based 4D-printing of Nanomaterials, EPSRC Grant ID EP/X038203/1, £122.9K, Role Co-I
[2023-2027] - Emerging Nanoscopy for Single Entity Characterisation, EPSRC Grant ID EP/X038211/1, £146.7K, Role Co-I
[2021-2024] - 5G Enhanced Robot Autonomy, EU H2020 Grant ID 101016681, €723K, Role Scientific Coordinator & PI
[2017-2023] - Micro/Nano Robotics for Single Cells, EU H2020 Grant ID 734174, €153K, Role PI
[2020-2022] - Transfer Learning for Event Management, Innovate UK Grant ID KTP011938, £171.4K, Role PI
[2010-2013] - Multi-Role Shadow Robotic System for Independent Living, EU FP7 Grant ID 247772, €825.3K, Role Scientific Coordinator & CoI
[2011-2013] - SRS for Enlarged European Union, EU FP7 Grant ID 287974, €49.5K, Role PI

Other internal & commercial projects:

[2022-2025] - AI Model Sharing with Trust Supported By 6g Connected Intelligence, Doctoral Studentship Funding Scheme, Role CoI
[2018] - WeTrack Ltd – Conceptual design for AI based event management system, Innovation Bridge & ICT Escalator
[2018] - Diamond Hard Surfaces Ltd – Reconfigurable robot manipulation, Innovation Bridge
[2017] - WK360 Ltd - Deep learning toolboxes for object class detection, Innovation Bridge
[2017] - Balance Design - Feasibility study for process automation, ICT Escalator

See full list of publications

Key innovator for excellent innovations to “Connected Robotics Platform Middleware” and “Reference NetApp: 5G enhanced cloud robotics under connected intelligence”, by Innovation Radar, European Commission 2025
Vice Chancellor’s Awards Runner Up 2022, Research Project of the Year, University of Bedfordshire, 2022
Best Paper Award at 17th International Conference on Knowledge-Based and Intelligent Information & Engineering Systems (KES) 2013
CoTeSys Cognitive Robotics Best Paper Award finalist at IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)
Overseas Research Scholarships Awards, The Higher Education Funding Council, 2000-2003

Tutorial for "Connected Robotics Platform for ROS Deployment in Real-world Network Settings," IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA24), https://github.com/5G-ERA/docs/tree/main/Workshops/ICRA24, Tokyo Japan 2024.
Keynote, “Manufacturing as a Service”, https://5g-era.eu/5g-era-workshop-manufacturing-as-a-service-maas/, TWI Cambridge, UK, 2024
Keynote, “From Cloud Robots to 5G Enabled Connected Robotics”, https://5g-era.eu/athens23/, OTE Academy, Athens, Greece, 2023
Special Session Chair for “6G Enabled Network Applications for the future of Connected Robotics”, IEEE Communications Society and European Commission, (EUCNC23) https://one6g.org/one6g-at-the-eucnc-6g-summit-2023/, Gothenburg, Sweden 2023
Special Session Chair on “Manufacturing as a Service for next generation of distributed manufacturing systems”, at IEEE 3M-NANO 2023, Chengdu, China 2023
Invited talk “NetApps for 5G Enhanced Robots”, IEEE Communications Society and European Commission, (EuCNC22) 2022
Invited talk at International Conference on Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing, “Limitations and opportunities of existing 5G & Cloud Robotics”, ISM-2021, Hagenberg Austria, Dec 2021
Invited talk at 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership (5G-PPP) Webinar, “5G Innovations for Verticals”, 5G-PPP and European Commission, April 2021.
Invited talk at Technology-Supported Living at Home, “Telepresence robots at home”, House of Lords, the Palace of Westminster, London, 2012
Invited talk at the Policy Responses and Research & Innovation Solutions for Active and Healthy Ageing, “Successful story of European robotics - SRS project”, Ageing societies in Europe and Japan, Tokyo, 2012
Invited talk at Workshop on Assistance robots for the elderly, “Semi-autonomous robots for domestic environment”, European Robotics Forum, Sweden, 2011
Session chair at the 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2012) for the session of Personal Robots I
Session chair at the 10th IEEE international Conference on Industrial Informatics (INDIN 2012) for the session of Robotics - from Industry to Society
Session chair at the 7th IEEE international Conference on Industrial Informatics (INDIN 2009) for the Industrial Informatics Applications Session

External Reviewer for Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong
External PhD Examiner for University of Birmingham, University of Plymouth, Cardiff University, Cranfield University, University of South Wales and many more
Habilitation Reviewer for Brno University of Technology 2023
Internal PhD Examiner for University of Bedfordshire in 2015, 2017 and 2020
External PG Programme Examiner for Cardiff University 2023-2027

Adrian Lendinez Ibanez, Meta Reasoning Using Analogy and Its Applications in Robotics, from 2021
Taiwo Efunogbon, Optimizing Pastoralism & Securing Farmlands - A Computational Intelligence Approach using Deep Learning & Satellite Imagery Remote Sensing, from 2022
Bartosz Bratus, Orchestration of Middleware for 5G-ERA Net Apps, from 2021
Radu Popescu, Cloud Native Architecture for 5G-ERA Middleware, from 2021
Przemyslaw Maslowski, Data Pre-Processing Techniques and Tools For Predictive Modelling Using Unstructured Inputs, from 2019
Hamed Al-Rubaiee, Techniques and Framework, which Integrates Arabic Sentiment Analysis into CRM, from 2016
Bowen Long, AI Model Sharing with Trust Supported By 6G Connected Intelligence, from 2022 (Co-supervisor)
Abimbola Efunogbon, Optimal 5G Network Sub Slicing Orchestration in a Fully Virtualised Smart Company Using Machine Learning, from 2021 (Co-supervisor)
Jikai Guo, Swarm Robot-Based Slam in Weak Environment Information Applications, from 2021 (Co-supervisor)
Jingyun Liu, Magnetic Force Imaging and Handling of Cancer Cells On The Nanoscale, from 2015 (Co-supervisor)
Noppakun Boonsim, Car Makes and Model Recognition Under Limited Lighting Conditions At Night, from 2013 (Co-supervisor)
Hang Lu, The Development of An Assistive Chair for Elderly with Sit to Stand Problems, from 2013 (Co-supervisor)
Ahmed Al-Moadhen, Semantic Based Task Planning for Domestic Service Robots, from 2012 (Co-supervisor in Cardiff University)